Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 6,180 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 3.5%, leaving it with approximately 169,247 shares valued at $779.7 million.
• Wall Street analysts provide a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Booking, with a consensus price target of $5,481.78.
• Insider sales include a transaction by CEO Glenn D. Fogel, who sold 1,013 shares valued at over $5.7 million, reducing his ownership by 3.66%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,247 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,180 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 3.8% of Mawer Investment Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.52% of Booking worth $779,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.5% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 207 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 4.0% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,022,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 14.3% during the first quarter. Clarendon Private LLC now owns 208 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 10.9% during the first quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,204 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,761,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 4.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 150 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $144.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5,359.97. The stock had a trading volume of 109,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,082. The business's fifty day moving average is $5,567.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5,070.33. The company has a market cap of $173.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. Booking's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 target price (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.